Chapter 20: Surprisingly Gray

Callie watched with mixed horror and fascination as her bullies’ faces blanched at the sight of Vincent Baros before them. Her breath caught in her throat at the notion of him exposing himself, but it didn’t matter who they thought he was. Vin walked and talked with certainty, and there was something in this aura that made him so terrifying. Whatever it was he told them, it must have been awful.

Vin walked back to the car with the same swagger, smirking as if he were proud of what he’d done.

“What did you do? What did you say to them?” Callie asked when Vin returned, craning her neck over the dashboard to see her classmates run back into the building.

“I don’t want to talk about it either,” Vin repeated Callie’s words back to her with a small amused smile before putting the car into gear.

The car eased out of the campus and into the near-empty highway. It was still a few hours before nightfall, but as they entered the Ashen City, some people have already set up candles and lanterns